Time In A Bottle
by elisahpstarkid
Summary: Kurt never expected to lose his soulmate this early in his life. Character death! ONE SHOT! Title from the Jim Croce song.


Blaine cursed quietly in the semi-dark car as he tried to see the road in front of him. The rain was pouring down hard making it impossible to see further than a few feet in front of him. He was probably driving too fast: Kurt had this important Vogue party to attend to and he, of course, asked his boyfriend to come with him. Since Blaine's job didn't let him off until seven, half an hour before the party started, they decided to have Blaine change at work and then go straight to the party.

So there Blaine was: in his car, wearing a tuxedo and trying desperately to get there in time without crossing speed limits. When he arrived at a red traffic light he took the opportunity to dial Kurt's number on his phone, which was placed in the hands free stand. The phone rang once, twice, thrice... But Kurt didn't pick up.

'Hey! This is Kurt Hummel's voicemail! Leave me a message if it's important or if you're Blaine! Leave me alone if it's not! Good day!' Blaine couldn't help but smile when he heard his boyfriends cheerful voice, even if it was just recorded.

'Hey, gorgeous,' he started. 'It's Blaine! I might be running a little late because the weather is hell but I promise I'll be there in a bit. I love you forever and always and so much and sorry for running late, even though I said I'd do anything to try not to. I'm almost there! I'll see you in a bit. Love you!'

He hung up just as the traffic light jumped to green and started driving. He never saw the truck on his right side coming. He never realised the traffic light being broken and jumping to green at every side. He never realised the truck couldn't have seen him in the weather. He didn't realise he was in a car crash until there was an enormous shadow on the passenger seat and by that time it was too late. Blaine squeezed his eyes closed as the car took the full blow from the passenger seat and the last thing he remembered was being so grateful that Kurt wasn't with him in that moment.

* * *

Where was Blaine? Kurt anxiously glanced at the clock and noticed that the party was to start in ten minutes and his boyfriend wasn't here yet. He checked his phone only to see he had one missed call from Blaine and a new voice mail. He went to stand in a quiet corner of the already quite busy room as he listened to his boyfriends voice.

_'Hey, gorgeous. It's Blaine! I might be running a little late because the weather is hell but I promise I'll be there in a bit. I love you forever and always and so much and sorry for running late, even though I said I'd do anything to try not to. I'm almost there! I'll see you in a bit. Love you!_'

He tucked his phone away and went back to the party which was already starting. He heard somebody complaining about the broken traffic lights a few blocks away and how it was going to get somebody killed soon. He wondered if he'd told Blaine about that.

'Are you alright, Kurt?' Kurt turned around and saw his boss, Isabelle Wright smiling back at him with slight concern in her kind eyes. 'You seem… distracted.' Kurt sighed and grabbed a glass of red wine from the nearest table.

'Blaine isn't here yet,' he replied. He didn't know why he felt so anxious. Blaine had told him in his voicemail he was going to be late. There was nothing to worry about. But still… Kurt couldn't shake the feeling of something being horribly wrong.

'I'm sure he's fine, Kurt,' Isabelle said comfortingly, as if she could read his mind. 'I'm sure he's just a little late and he'll be here in no time.' Kurt smiled at her gratefully. She always knew just what to say.

_Blaine is fine_. _Blaine is fine_. Kurt kept repeating the same sentence in his head and the time trickled on slowly. It was almost nine now, an hour after the party started and Kurt's boyfriend was still nowhere to be found. He had tried calling Blaine, several times but it was as if his phone was turned off.

'Probably dead battery,' Isabelle kept saying. Kurt didn't know how long he could keep up the façade in front of his collogues while worry was slowly devouring him from the inside. He needed to know where Blaine was, if he was alright. _Maybe he's seeing someone else_, a voice in his head had said but Kurt had dismissed it. Blaine wouldn't… Right?

Suddenly Kurt was shaken from his thoughts by the buzzing of his phone in his pocket. He grabbed it as fast as he could and didn't even bother glancing at the caller ID as he picked up and started yelling.

'Where the hell are you, you _dick_?! Do you have any idea how worried I've been? For all I know you have been having sex with some slut in our bed or-'

'Mr. Hummel?' Kurt was cut off by an unfamiliar voice and turned bright red.

'Oh, my God, I'm so sorry,' he said quickly. 'I didn't look at the caller ID and I thought you were my boyfriend. I'm terribly sorry. How can I help you?'

'Mr. Hummel, I'm calling from St. Vincent's Hospital. Earlier today Mr. Blaine Anderson was brought in, who had been involved in a severe car crash. You are his emergency contact, is that correct, Mr. Hummel?' It felt as if the entire world dissolved under Kurt's feet. He barely noticed dropped his phone to the floor and he didn't realized his legs had given out until his knees hit the floor.

'_Kurt_?' It was Isabelle's yell that pulled Kurt out of his numb haze. He grabbed his deserted phone from the floor and pressed it to his ear. He heard the nurse call his name but he didn't explain.

'I'm on my way,' he simply muttered before hanging up and quickly scrolling through his contact list in search for a cab to call.

'Kurt, what's going on?' Kurt didn't look up as he answered Isabelle's frantic question.

'Blaine was in a severe car crash and he is in St. Vincent's Hospital and I need a _goddamn cab_!' Kurt threw his phone away in frustration, letting a heart wrenching sob escape. Isabelle was quick to pull him in her arms and hold him for a few minutes as she whispered comforting words.

'_It's going to be alright_. _I'll drive you, don't worry about a cab_. _Blaine is strong and he has a lot to fight for. He'll be fine, Kurt._'

'We have to go,' Kurt murmured. 'I need to see Blaine.' Isabelle gently helped him up and walked him to her car (in which they had also arrived, so Kurt could drive back with Blaine). His mind wouldn't shut up as they drove (or slowly glide, with this weather and traffic) through New York. Traffic was absolute hell but Isabelle seemed to know her way around and Kurt was too distracted.

He thought of how he had accused Blaine, the love of his life, of cheating right before hearing that he had been in a terrible car crash was horrifying to Kurt. He didn't understand how he could have thought Blaine would do such a thing. _Because he had done it before_, the nagging voice in the back of his head said but he ignored it. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered now was Blaine and he was suffering. He was in pain and in danger and Kurt couldn't do anything to help him.

'We're here.' Kurt looked up at Isabelle's soft voice and saw that they were indeed at the hospital. He didn't say anything but simply opened the door and made his way inside. He walked over to the help desk, where a bored looking young woman was standing.

'Excuse me? I'm here for Blaine Anderson. He was brought in here earlier today.' She let out a deep sigh, which Kurt found highly annoying before typing something in her computer.

'Are you Mr. Kurt Hummel,' she asked with a voice sounding as bored as she looked. Kurt nodded impatiently.

'Mr. Anderson is in intensive care. His condition is very critical and I'm not sure if you can visit him.' She gave him the directions to Blaine's room and they left.

Kurt felt his stomach sink as they came closer and closer and _closer_ to something that he'd promise to do everything he could to avoid ever having to face it again in his entire life: Blaine in a hospital bed. Ever since he saw Blaine lying on the ground of a parking lot, screaming at the top of his lungs and clutching his face as red syrup mixed with tears of pain and panic, he had sworn to protect Blaine the best he could. And he failed.

He suddenly realized he was standing in front of the door of Blaine's hospital room. It was opened a slight bit, not enough to look inside. Kurt gave a soft push to the door and it gave in easily.

The room was cold. Not necessarily in the literal sense of the word, though Kurt did have shivers running down his spine, but it was mostly the light and the bright white walls giving a very cold impression. Kurt's eyes were immediately drawn to the dark mop of hair lying on the pillow and he knew it was his boyfriend. His perfect, wonderful, sweet boy was lying in that bed, all battered and hurt. The words of the woman at the help desk haunted his thoughts. _His condition is critical_. Kurt couldn't let him go.

He hesitantly took one stepped closer and was met with a haunting sight. Blaine's face seemed to be covered by blood at first sight but when he looked a little closer he saw that the red was many small wounds, covering the most beautiful face he had ever laid eyes on. His eyes seemed to be swollen and the many machines attached to his body were not a pretty sight. In that moment a doctor walked into the room.

'Excuse me,' the doctor said, frowning in confusion as she looked at Kurt. It wasn't until then Kurt noticed Isabelle had stayed in the hall, instead of entering the room with him. 'What on earth are you doing here?'

'I- I'm sorry,' Kurt stammered, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. It really hit him then: he could lose Blaine. 'This is my b-boyfriend and I- I…' He dissolved into hysterical sobs and this time the doctor caught him before his knees could hit the ground. She gently let him to a chair in the corner of the room and sat him down, waiting until he calmed a bit.

'I didn't mean to scare you,' she said not unkindly as Kurt wiped his tears away, only for them to be replaced with fresh ones. 'I was just kind of confused as to what a complete stranger was doing in the room of my patient.'

'He's my boyfriend,' Kurt repeated. 'We were going to a party from my work today and he left me a voicemail saying he'd be a bit later and then he didn't show up and then I got a call from the hospital and then I came here as fast as I could…' His voice trailed off when he realized he was rambling but the doctor didn't comment on it.

'As you might have realized, Mr. Anderson's condition is critical. I'm very sorry to break this to you but he will not make it through the night. There is a lot of internal damage and we've done everything we could but we couldn't ' Kurt felt numb. The pain was there but it was dull, unreal. It had yet to really sink in.

'I can't live without my soulmate,' he simply said. The doctor stood up, ran a few checks with Blaine's lifeless body and left the room but not before turning to Kurt and saying: 'He might be waking up soon but don't get your hopes up. Mr. Anderson is dying.' After that, the night seemed one big blur. He barely remembered calling Isabelle into the room, calling his dad and Blaine's mum. But he did remember calling Cooper. He thought he might never forget the haunting sound of the man's screams of denial. And then they waited, and waited. Until that one moment when Blaine's eyelids started fluttering and his hand squeezed Kurt's,

'K-Ku-Kurt…' Kurt was quick to grab some water for Blaine to drink, making it a bit easier for him to talk. He left Burt to the task of explaining to Blaine what was going on, telling him he only had a few hours left to live. He tried to shut his father's voice out the best he could but Blaine's shuddering breaths were ear piercing to Kurt. He didn't think he'd ever find the strength to turn around again and looking his boyfriend in the eye but then he heard the softest and weakest of voices call out to him, painfully familiar but unfamiliar at the same time.

'_Kurt_, please.' Kurt turned around and was met with a heartbreaking sight. Blaine's hazel eyes were big but dry and focused on Kurt. He had a pleading look on his battered face and he tried to reach out his hand. Kurt immediately took it and on Blaine's bed. His hand subconsciously reached up to comb his fingers through the dark curls and watched as Blaine's eyes fell closed and a content smile appeared on his face.

'Don't let me go, Kurt,' he whispered. 'I'm not ready to go.' Those words did it. Kurt burst into hysterical sobs, tears streaming down his face and leaking onto Blaine's hideous hospital gown.

'I won't,' he whispered back. 'I'm never saying goodbye to you.'

'I'm so scared, Kurt,' Blaine suddenly cried. 'I don't want to die. Not now, not now everything is so perfect.' Kurt didn't reply but simply lied down next to him, gently placing his head on Blaine's chest and listened to the beats of his heart. He could feel his chest raise as he took a breath and the way his chest vibrated as he occasionally sobbed quietly. They remained in that same position for a long time. They didn't speak; no words were appropriate in their current situation and nobody dared disturb the two lovers, or break them apart. When Rachel walked in, she simply kissed both boy's cheeks and sat down on the other side of Blaine's bed. They were only interrupted by the occasional checkup by a doctor and nurses giving pain medication. But even then their hands remained intertwined, Kurt never really leaving Blaine's side. After about two hours Blaine's breathing became more and more irregular and his grip on Kurt's hand loosened a little bit. Kurt responded by grabbing Blaine's hand even tighter and holding it to his own chest. After a few more minutes, Blaine spoke up.

'Kurt, I have to tell you something.' Kurt's stomach dropped when he heard how weak Blaine's voice sounded. He lifted his head up but kept the hand that wasn't holding Blaine's on the boys chest. Kurt liked feeling his boyfriends heartbeat, now more than ever Blaine looked tired, Kurt realized as he took a good look at him for the first time in hours. He looked both emotionally and physically exhausted.

'What is it, sweetheart?' At the pet name Blaine briefly closed his eyes and smiled before getting serious again.

'When you go home, I want you to look into my sock drawer. In the turquoise pair, the ones you find so hideous, is something hidden for you. I've been meaning to give it to you for a long time but I…' he smiled as a lone tear trickled down his face. 'I guess I'll never get the chance.' Kurt had to suppress a sob.

'I think it's time, Kurt.' Kurt didn't reply, he just stared at Blaine with silent tears streaming down his face. 'Sing me a song, my love?' Kurt took both of Blaine's freezing cold hands in his own and looked him straight in the eye. He sang softly but full of conviction.

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night_

_Take this broken wings and learn to fly_

_All your life_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise._

Blaine's eyes slowly slipped closed, a content smile on his face.

'I love you,' he whispered quietly before releasing one last breath. Kurt leaned forward and pressed a long kiss against his lovers lips.

'I love you too,' he whispered back before laying his head back onto his chest. He remained in that position until nurses had to drag him away from his boyfriends cold body.

* * *

It took Kurt months before he found the courage to look in Blaine's sock drawer. It took him weeks to even enter his own bedroom. The bed was terribly empty without a warm, soft body lying next to him. Every day was hard and every night was agonizing. He couldn't help but feel guilty. What if he did tell him about the traffic light? Would he still have been with him. But his father was quick to shoot that idea down.

'It were all the circumstances combined that killed Blaine that night, Kurt,' Burt had said. 'I know that Blaine is a very careful driver. Under normal circumstances he would have seen the truck driver and would have noticed the broken traffic lights.'

There were nights when Kurt would dream about Blaine being in terrible pain and screaming for Kurt to save him, but Kurt found himself glued to the floor, unable to move. There were also nights when Kurt would dream about sweaty bodies and hot messy kisses. Those nights were the hardest to wake up from, when he found himself alone in his bed again.

When he did look in the drawer was the day of their anniversary. He took the day off from work and locked himself up in his bedroom. He watched all the movies Blaine had loved the most and spend his time either crying or laughing. He dug up one of their photo albums from high school and pretended to be talking to Blaine as he went through the pages.

'Oh, that was at Dalton! I remember David taking that picture and you got all mad because you hadn't done your hair yet. But as soon as you saw the picture you didn't have the heart to delete it and had it printed instead.'

After he went through all of the photo albums he caught himself staring at Blaine's old sock drawer. He knew this was the day: it was time to look at what Blaine had bought him all these months ago. He walked over to the drawer slowly and opened it. I didn't take him long to find the turquoise pair of socks: he really did find them hideous. He felt into one of the socks and felt something cold on his fingers. He took it out and laid it down on his hand.

It was a ring. A beautiful golden ring laid in the palm of his hand. He could see a small part of an inscription on the inside and he took a closer look.

_My missing puzzle piece. I'm complete_.

Kurt didn't realize he started crying until tears started leaking onto his palm. He collapsed on the ground and cried as hard as he could. He cried until he didn't have any tears left and his voice was hoarse. Then he slipped the ring onto his finger and muttered a soft: 'I do. I love you, Blaine. Forever.' A small smile was lighting up his face as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_If I could save time in a bottle _

_The first thing that I'd like to do_

_Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away_

_Just to spend them with you_

* * *

**A/N Eh.. Oops? **

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